Pottertalia Crossover
by RabidRedPanda
Summary: Well, the time has come for the next group of children to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and none are as excited as young Ludwig! ...Okay, that is a complete and utter lie. Any of the other kids could be more excited than this grouchy, 11 year-old German kid. Read about his encounters at Hogwarts, as well as some other kids' encounters later on.
1. Chapter 1

Ludwig hauled his luggage into the compartment on the train and sighed, collapsing onto the seat. How was it that the only empty compartment was at the end of the train? He had to drag his trunk full of clothes and other various magical equipment to the back of the train which wasn't an easy feat considering his small stature.

He hadn't been shocked when he found out he was accepted into Hogwarts. So were his parents, and so was his older brother. In fact, he would be quite excited to be on the shining, red Hogwarts Express if he wasn't anticipating the inevitable: he would be sorted into Slytherin just like the rest of his family. The Beilschmidt's were a prominent Pure-blooded family in the wizarding community, and most of them had gotten into Slytherin. His parents were both from Slytherin House themselves, and his brother was currently the Slytherin Quidditch Team Captain. Ludwig dreaded having to be around his brother every day of the year, the teasing was bad enough at home.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by the compartment door sliding open and a slightly older face peeked in. He had rosy cheeks and auburn hair with a single flyaway curl that seemed to stick out from his head. It bounced with the shaking of the train moving along the tracks. When he opened his mouth to speak, Ludwig was surprised by the shrillness and thick Italian accent of the boy's voice.

"Ciao! May I come in? Oh, and my brother as well," the boy said warmly. "We couldn't find any other empty compartments, and I guess this one is the most empty one we're going to find!"

Ludwig blinked and nodded. "Ja, sure," he replied, his own voice sounding several years more mature in comparison to this older boy's voice.

The boy with the curl grinned happily and stepped into the compartment, dragging his trunk behind him. A taller, tanner teenage boy with darker hair and a similar flyaway curl followed, looking substantially more grumpy than his cheery sibling and wrapped up in a yellow and black scarf. The two boys sat down in the seats across from Ludwig. The younger one spoke up, "I'm Feliciano Vargas, by the way. Oh, and this is my big brother Lovino." He gestured to the older boy, who merely scowled and grunted at Ludwig.

"I'm Ludwig Beilschmidt," replied Ludwig, looking with interest at the scarf around Lovino's neck. "You're a Hufflepuff?"

Feliciano nodded. "We're both Huff-"

Lovino glared at Ludwig. "Wait, did you say 'Beilschmidt?'" he growled. His voice was almost startlingly low in comparison to Feliciano. "You wouldn't happen to be related to that jerkwad Gilbert, would you?"

Feliciano's eyes lit up in alarm. "Lovino! Watch your tongue!"

Ludwig sighed and leaned back in his seat sullenly, crossing his arms. "Ja, he's my older brother. I'm not very proud of it, just so you know. He _is_ a jerkwad."

Lovino wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Damn it. Sitting with you will attract him to us!" he groaned.

Feliciano smacked his brother's arm, scowling indignantly. "Lovino, hush! You're being rude!"

"Not as rude as that damn German can be!" Lovino snapped right back. "Gilbert is the biggest knucklehead at school. Everyone, even the _teachers_, agree on that! Any brother of his will not be welcomed, believe me." He reached into his trunk and pulled out one of his school books. "Now shut up, I have some reading I need to finish before History of Magic."

Feliciano rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. "You're such a bummer, you know that, right?" he muttered. He looked up at Ludwig with an apologetic gaze. "Sorry, he's normally like this. It's inexcusable, but you should probably learn to expect it just in case you run into him in the halls."

Ludwig smiled in amusement. "Okay then. So, you were saying something about Hufflepuff?"

Feliciano blinked. "I was?" he mumbled, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. His eyes snapped wide open when it came back to him. "Oh, right I was. Yeah, Lovino and I are in Hufflepuff. I'm going into my second year. How about you?"

"I'm a first year," sighed Ludwig. "Though knowing my family, I'll probably be in Slytherin. I wish I could avoid that fate."

"Oh, well just think really hard about anything but traits that put people in Slytherin when they sort you," Feliciano advised. "But you may consider that a little longer. Slytherin House gets a bad rap since they used to house dark wizards, but now they're not that bad. Well-" Feliciano grinned nervously, "-except...your brother. He isn't the nicest person. He picked on me last year."

Ludwig's eyes widened and he sat up straight. "Really? Oh, I apologize for him, he lacks basic self control," he said quickly.

Feliciano held up a hand to stop him. "I-It's okay, it really is. He normally just picks on first years, so I'm probably safe this year." He simpers, kicking his legs idly.

Ludwig couldn't help but look down guiltily. His brother felt like a burden more than a sibling sometimes. He was always the one apologizing for his brother's mistakes. It was ridiculous, Ludwig was eleven and he was more mature than his fifteen year old brother.

Feliciano noticed Ludwig's expression and frowned. "Hey, lighten up. You didn't do anything wrong, your brother did."

Ludwig shrugged. "I always feel responsible somehow," he muttered. "Don't worry about it, it's just a sibling thing." He leaned against the window and watched the scenery woosh by in a blur of greens, yellows, and blues.

Feliciano looked at Ludwig with concern. He squirmed in his seat uncomfortably, thinking of what would be the right thing to say. His face suddenly lit up as an idea occurred to him. "Hey, you seem like you're awfully nice. Maybe you could be in Hufflepuff with us! We'll have to see what happens when you get sorted, but try to think really hard about badgers and maybe that will help your odds!"

Ludwig looked at Feliciano in confusion. "Badgers? Why badgers?"

Feliciano giggled and pulled out his school robes from the trunk. He pointed to an embroidered crest over the lapel. It was a yellow shield with a badger stitched right in the middle of it. Black letters on the top of the crest read, _Hufflepuff House_. "Hufflepuff's mascot is a badger. Cool, right? I honestly think it's way better than an eagle or a snake! Although, having a lion as a mascot would be nice." He looked up thoughtfully, pondering the thought.

Ludwig looked very intrigued. "Tell me about the other houses. What do you have to be like to get into Gryffindor and Ravenclaw?"

Lovino spoke up for the first time in the last fifteen minutes. "Ravenclaws are the nerds, Gryffindors are the jocks, Slytherins are the bullies, and Hufflepuffs are the bullied. As you can tell, as Hufflepuffs, we get the raw deal."

Feliciano rolled his eyes at his brother. "No we don't!" He looked back at Ludwig. "To get into Hufflepuff, you have to do what is nice more often than not, to get into Ravenclaw, you have to make wise decisions, to get into Gryffindor, you have to be brave, and to get into Slytherin, you have to be clever and do what is necessary. Does that give you a better idea of how things work?"

Ludwig nodded, narrowing his eyes as he processed that information. "I think I'm all four of those things, though. I'll probably be put into Slytherin just because of my family as a tiebreaker," he grumbled, leaning his face against the cool window.

"Maybe, but let's hope you get Hufflepuff, hm?" Feliciano smiled. He stood up. "I'm going to get into my school robes now, if you don't mind. I'd like it if you looked away, please."

Ludwig blinked and looked away. "Oh. Of course." He looked out the window instead, watching as farmlands and forests passed by in what seemed like blinks of an eye.

Ludwig clung to his seat as the train came to a screeching halt at Hogsmeade Station. He looked out the window, trying to take everything in before he'd have to get off the train. Feliciano grabbed his arm, however. "Come on, we've got to get off." He started leading Ludwig out of the compartment, but Ludwig protested.

"Hey, what about my trunk? I can't forget that!" he exclaimed, trying to pull away.

Feliciano just held him tighter. "Don't worry about it, they bring your luggage to your dormitories." He pulled Ludwig off the train as he followed Lovino. The air was frigid outside, and Ludwig had to pull his robes tightly over his body to keep from freezing on the spot. Lovino looked quite comfortable in his scarf. Suddenly, Ludwig felt a panging jealousy for that boy and his warm clothing. He had anticipated the cold, and yet Ludwig had not.

Feliciano let go of his arm finally, leaving the area he held colder than the rest of Ludwig's arm from the sudden absence of heat. Feliciano gave Ludwig a fleeting glance, yelling out, "You'll follow the gamekeeper, I've got to go with my brother. I'll see you in the Great Hall for your sorting!" He was moved along with the rest of the bustling crowd, his voice trailing as he got further and further away.

Ludwig blinked, suddenly feeling very exposed and very alone in the commotion. He looked around frantically for the gamekeeper Feliciano had mentioned, finally hearing a ringing female voice crying out, "FIRST YEARS, COME THIS WAY! Yes, all first years-that means you, little boy!"

A thin woman draped in heavy furs that hung loosely on her bony figure walked up to Ludwig. She held a brass lantern that cloaked the area around it in a soft golden glow, and gave her gaunt face a skeletal, iridescent light. Despite her eerie face, her eyes were a warm and welcoming shade of brown. "Come on, little boy. First years have to cross the lake. Follow me."

Ludwig looked at her with curiosity as she walked away. A group of kids around his age followed her closely, and Ludwig jumped right into the group, still trying to take in the scenery as he walked along.

The skinny woman led them beyond the station to the docks, where several rowboats sat tied to the rickety wooden deck. The woman pulled out a slender wand that was just as knobby and bony as herself and gave it a swish. The ropes moved and untied themselves, looking like snakes in the low light. The woman raised her lantern to look over the group of children. "Alright, pile in. A warning to all of you, though: you might get a little wet. The boats like to be rough on the water." She climbed into the largest rowboat and sat at the front seat.

Ludwig climbed into the nearest boat, and was accompanied by two bespectacled young blonde boys and a small blonde girl with a purple ribbon in her hair. He looked over the other passengers curiously, opening his mouth to say something in greeting when all of a sudden the boat lurched forward, tipping them backwards. The children shrieked and gripped the sides of the boat in terror, and the skinny woman glared back at the them. "Hey! Calm down back there!" she barked.

One of the blonde boys spoke up. "We didn't do anything! The boat just moved by itself!" he protested, a worried frown on his face.

The skinny woman gave a faint smile of amusement. "Oh, I wasn't talking to you dear. I was talking to the boat." she said, as if it was a completely normal thing to say that she was talking to an inanimate object. She glared at the wooden boat. "Behave yourself. Now, let's head into the castle, shall we?" She waved her wand again and the boats shot forward, moving without any rowers or oars to be seen. The children had to cling to the sides of the boat to keep from losing their balance.

Ludwig looked up at the dark castle as it came into view, squinting his eyes through the spray of water. Its many towers looked foreboding in the low light, speckled with the yellow lights of many windows. He smiled nervously at the massive building, inwardly wondering how on Earth he'd be able to navigate such a place. His thoughts trailed as they rode across the lake, the spray dampening his face and the wind messing up his neatly slicked back hair. He overheard the two blonde boys fussing in the back of the boat. It was rather amusing, since one was loud and obnoxious, and the other was quiet and passive-agressive.

"Oh come on, Matt! It's just a little water!"

"It's getting all over me, I'm cold!"

"Wimp. You're gonna be in Hufflepuff with an attitude like that, you dingus."

"I-I don't care if I'm in Hufflepuff! I hear they're nice!"

"Ha! Hufflepuffs are the easy targets, don't come crying to me when you start getting bullied by Slytherins just because you decided to be a wimp and become a Hufflepuff!"

Ludwig looked back at the two boys. "I met two Hufflepuffs on the train, and I met one who was a grouchy pain in the butt. I don't think it's about being wimpy, they wouldn't make a House just for the wimpy kids."

The boy with the slightly curlier blonde hair glared at the other boy. "Yeah, see? Hufflepuffs can be...whatever the word for not-wimps is!"

The louder boy grinned. "You should get into Ravenclaw with a magnificent vocabulary like that!" he laughed sarcastically.

The quieter boy whimpered, "W-Well you should get into Slytherin for being so mean! I hear Slytherin is full of meanies like you, Alfred!"

The louder boy named Alfred cackled. "And I'll be the best damn Slytherin ever!"

The quieter boy gasped in shock. "Y-You said the 'D' word! I'm gonna write Mommy an owl and you'll get into trouble for that!" he threatened.

Alfred froze. "D-Don't tell Mommy I said that! Please, it just slipped out!" he pleaded.

"Well why shouldn't I tell? You've been a meanie this entire trip!" the quiet boy frowned.

Alfred whimpered and hugged his brother. "I'm sorry, Matt. Forgive me, dude?"

The quieter boy named Matt sighed and hugged his brother back. "Okay...but stop hugging me, you're wet too." He gently pushed his brother away.

Ludwig chuckled at the exchange the two boys were having. "Are you two brothers?"

Alfred smiled gleefully at Ludwig. "Yeah! Can't you tell? We're twins! Well...fruiteral twins, but whatever!"

"Fraternal twins, you keep getting that wrong," Matt corrected.

Alfred ignored his brother and kept grinning at Ludwig. "I'm Alfred. Who're you?"

"I'm Ludwig, nice to meet you," Ludwig replied politely. He was about to ask another question when the boat came to an abrupt stop. The girl sitting next to him nearly tumbled out of the boat. She gripped the side of it, breathing heavily in horror. Ludwig frowned at her. "Are you alright?"

The girl nodded, but her arms were trembling. "Th-These boats are too scary…" She jumped off of the boat and ran onto the solid stone dock within the building as quickly as she could.

Ludwig stepped off of the boat and followed the rest of the group and the skinny woman past a set of tall oaken doors to a room with high, vaulted walls within the building. The skinny woman looked them all over. "You all stay here until you're called into the Great Hall, alright? Excellent." She tottled off, leaving the children to wait. Whether they were dreading their call, or awaiting it with excitement was up to the children to decide.

Ludwig took a deep breath. He was finally here. It was time to be sorted and get this over with.


	2. Chapter 2

Outside the doors, the children waited restlessly. Ludwig sat down on the steps to practice thinking about things other than Slytherin for when he would be sorted. He closed his eyes and focused on the badger that Feliciano had shown him earlier, but in his nervousness, the badger kept curling like a snake in his head, slithering off of the image of the shield and baring its fangs in a menacing hiss.

A voice broke his concentration. "Hey, are you sleeping?" Alfred sat down next to him and looked at him curiously, raising a finger to poke his cheek.

Ludwig swatted Alfred's hand away and opened his eyes. He glared irritably at him. "I'm concentrating, don't touch me," he muttered.

"But class hasn't even started. What are you trying to concentrate on?" said Alfred with that omnipresent smirk on his lips.

Ludwig sighed, "I don't want to get into Slytherin. I'm trying to practice focusing on Hufflepuff for when we get sorted. Maybe that way the Hat won't put me into Slytherin."

"Dude, why do you want to get into Hufflepuff?" cackled Alfred. "Slytherin and Gryffindor are the good houses. Have you ever heard of a great wizard or witch coming from any other house?" He crossed his arms and leaned back on the steps.

"Slytherin has cracked out all the bad wizards over the years, and Gryffindor is full of knuckleheads who jump into everything headfirst, according to my brother," muttered Ludwig. "Hufflepuff seems decent, at least. I met two-"

"-guys on the train and one was super grouchy? Yeah, you told me that already," said Alfred, looking a little bored with the topic. "Stop overthinking it. The Sorting Hat is magic, it'll just sort you no matter what you think about."

Ludwig frowned in disappointment. "Well...it can't hurt to try, can it?"

Alfred merely shrugged in response. "No, but the Hat chooses your House, not you."

Their conversation was halted as a male teacher stepped through the doors to the Great Hall and looked the children over. He was a pudgy man with a single tuft of grey hair on his head. "Alright, children, get into a single file line, please," he called out. Ludwig got to his feet and tried to get as close to the front of the line as possible, looking up at the teacher with tense interest. The teacher waited until the rest of the children had shoved their way into a somewhat jagged line before speaking again. "When you all enter the Great Hall, you will be called alphabetically to be sorted into the four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Once sorted, you will join your fellow students at the corresponding table for your new House. When everyone has been sorted, we will begin the feast. Now, follow me." He turned on his heel and walked into the room, looking rather militaristic in his march.

Alfred tapped Ludwig on the shoulder from behind. "Hey, you nervous?" he whispered, grinning with excitement.

Ludwig looked down at his feet as he walked in. "No. I'm just dreading is all…" He stepped into the hall and gazed around. His eyes widened at the size of the room, and as he looked up, he was startled to see the starry sky twinkling down at him. Hundreds of candles floated above them, filling the room with a bright orange glow. However, while the room was impressive, what was the most overwhelming was the hundreds of faces staring at the children as they entered. Some looked interested, some were straining their necks to search for siblings, and some looked completely bored. Ludwig gulped. _I don't want to be called up in front of this many people_, he thought silently.

The line halted in front of a stool sitting in the front of the room. On top of the stool sat a raggedy, old pile of dirty fabric: the famous Sorting Hat. The teacher stood behind the stool and pulled out a roll of parchment from his cloak pocket. He unfurled it and spoke:

"Bauer, Friedrich!"

A small boy with light brown hair stepped out of line and shakily walked up to the stool. The teacher lifted up the hat for the Friedrich to take a seat on the stool. The nervous boy sat down, holding the sides of the stool tensely. The teacher placed the hat on the Friedrich's head, and it fell down over the boy's unfocused blue eyes. A rip near the brim of the hat opened and flapped about like a mouth as it spoke:

"_Ravenclaw!_"

The table cloaked in blue and bronze cheered loudly as the hat was removed from the boy's head and he hopped off to join his new House. Ludwig couldn't help but crack a smile at the grin on Friedrich's face as he ran off to his new friends. As he looked over the tables, he saw his pale brother waving at him frantically from the corner of the Slytherin table. Ludwig sighed and looked away, trying to hide his blush of embarrassment.

"Beilschmidt, Ludwig!"

Ludwig's eyes widened and he stepped out of the line, walking over to the stool. He tried to keep as calm as possible, forcing himself to wear a bored expression. However, in the back of his mind, the nagging realization hit him. _He pronounced my name wrong!_ It was true, the teacher had pronounced the "W" in his name as an actual "W", and not the "V" sound it was supposed to make due to its German roots. Ludwig didn't need to voice this thought, though, as it was unfortunately voiced for him.

"It's pronounced Lud-VIG, Professor! Get it right!" yelled out his brother's raucous voice.

The teacher glared at the albino boy in irritation. "I'm going to have to ask you to be quiet, Mr. Beilschmidt!" he snapped.

Ludwig groaned in exasperation, looking down with embarrassment as he sat down on the stool. "It doesn't matter, Gilbert…" he grumbled quietly. Gilbert simply gave Ludwig a very unhelpful grin and an enthusiastic thumbs up, mouthing, "You're welcome!" to him.

The teacher sighed and put the hat down on Ludwig's head. Ludwig shut his eyes and focused on the badger again, trying desperately to keep it from slipping into the image of a snake.

"_Ahh...you're another Beilschmidt, aren't you?"_ said a voice in his head.

Ludwig's eyes shot open. "What…?"

"_Shut it, I'm in your head. Now...let me see here. What House would suit you best?"_ the Hat's voice rang in his head, humming thoughtfully.

_Don't put me in Slytherin,_ Ludwig pleaded in his thoughts. _Put me in Hufflepuff or something like that._

The Hat let out a grunt of surprise. _"You _want _to be in Hufflepuff? That's rather strange."_

_I just don't want to be with my brother,_ Ludwig explained hurriedly. _Please, anywhere but with him._

"_Hmph. Well...you wouldn't do well in Hufflepuff, I can tell you that much," _the Hat muttered. _"And you don't want to be in Slytherin...well what about Ravenclaw? No, no, you wouldn't get to your full potential there...hm. You'd honestly do your best in Slytherin. Why do you refuse it so much?"_

_Well...I don't think I could tolerate my brother every day of the year. I'd just like to be independent of him,_ Ludwig thought with an inward sigh.

"_Even at the expense of his feelings? I'm sure he's been awaiting your arrival at Slytherin House since he was sorted himself,"_ the hat pointed out.

Ludwig blinked. He hadn't considered Gilbert's emotions in this, but even when the idea occurred to him now, he didn't really care. _Just put me in another House,_ he thought surely.

The Hat chuckled, _"My goodness. You're very sure about this, aren't you?"_

Gilbert's voice broke through, "What's the holdup? Put him in Slytherin already!"

"DETENTION, MR. BEILSCHMIDT!" the teacher behind Ludwig yelled. The room broke out into snickers, and Ludwig could tell even without looking that Gilbert was probably grinning triumphantly. This was probably a new record for how quickly he could get detention.

"_Well, if that's quite done, let's get back to the more pressing matters, shall we?" _the Hat grumbled in his ear.

_I thought this was already decided. Put me in something other than Slytherin. You don't want me in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, though, so just put me in Gryffindor,_ Ludwig thought decisively.

The Hat fell silent for what felt like hours. Ludwig started squirming in his seat uncomfortably in the quiet of the room, feeling hundreds of eyes boring into him even without seeing anything past the dark of the interior of the Hat.

"_GRYFFINDOR!"_ cried out the Hat, this time to the entire school.

Ludwig nearly fell out of his seat at the sudden loud noise. A roar broke out in the room, and he could barely hear Gilbert's cries of protest over the cheering of the Gryffindor table. As the Hat was lifted from his eyes and light flooded his vision once again, he stood up and cracked a smile, dashing over to the table draped and red and gold. He was greeted by several warm, grinning faces as he ran over. He climbed onto the bench and sighed, looking relieved to be away from his brother, when all of a sudden he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hola, you're Gilbert's little brother, huh? He's told me so much about you!" said a cheerful voice with a friendly Spanish accent.

Ludwig turned around to look and groaned in irritation. Of course, he forgot Gryffindor housed one of Gilbert's closest friends: Antonio. "Yeah...couldn't you tell by his yelling?" grumbled Ludwig.

Antonio laughed and pat Ludwig's shoulder, lowering his voice to a whisper as the next child was called up to the stool. "Don't worry, you're in the best House. Your brother can't lie to you any longer, Slytherin hasn't gotten Gryffindor's fame and glory for good reason!"

Ludwig raised an eyebrow at him. "What is that reason?" he questioned.

Antonio laughed and pat Ludwig on the shoulder again. "I have no idea, but I bet it's something good!" he grinned.

Ludwig couldn't help but smile a bit at Antonio's cheerful disposition. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he mumbled, looking back up at the stool as the next child was called up.

"De Luca, Luciano!"

Luciano de Luca was a very tiny boy indeed, though his face made it clear he was not one to be messed with. He had a scowl on his face as he marched up to the stool. As he sat down, a voice sang out from the Hufflepuff table, "Lucyyy! Oh, Lucy, over here!" Ludwig was startled by the very feminine tone to such a masculine voice, and looked over to the Hufflepuff table to see a taller boy with curly blonde hair standing up. He was waving at Luciano, a wide grin on his face. Luciano looked positively repulsed, a dark blush spreading over his face as the school erupted into giggles. Even the teachers, who were struggling to glare at Flavio, couldn't help but break out into hushed laughs and ignore that this boy was breaking the rules.

Ludwig smirked, "Gosh, that poor kid has a rather unfortunate nickname," he mumbled.

"Indeed!" Antonio giggled. "That's his older brother, by the way," he said, pointing to the blonde haired boy. "His name is Flavio, and he is straight as a rainbow Slinky." When he noticed Ludwig's confused expression, he sighed. "He's extremely gay, and a Slinky is a Muggle toy that's like a spring, but it goes down stairs and stuff. It's pretty cool."

"Why couldn't you just say he's extremely gay from the start?" Ludwig frowned.

"It was a joke, but you're too young to get it," mumbled Antonio, pointing at Luciano to refocus Ludwig on the Sorting.

Luciano had ended up in Slytherin without the Hat even touching his head, and the Sorting went along without any more interruptions. Alfred joined Ludwig in Gryffindor, while Matt went off to Hufflepuff, accompanied by the girl from the boat and another mousy-haired boy. Alfred looked depressed to not be with his brother, but instantly brightened up when the empty golden plates and goblets in front of them filled with food after the Sorting finished.

"Dude, look at all this food!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening as he tried to take in all the food on the table. "Damn!"

Ludwig smirked. "Hey, watch your mouth, or I'll tell Matt that you said the 'D' word again," he threatened jokingly.

Alfred stared at Ludwig. "What?! You wouldn't!" he squeaked.

"Hey, I was joking," Ludwig frowned. "Couldn't you tell?"

"No! You've got a really scary voice, dude," Alfred mumbled, taking a bite of his chicken leg. "It's like a pre-puberty devil voice."

Ludwig would've made a grouchy retort if Antonio hadn't butted in. "So, Ludwig, what do you look forward to doing at Hogwarts?" he asked curiously.

Ludwig thought for a moment. He'd never really considered it much, but he just gave the most basic answer that occurred to him. "I want to get near perfect grades, become a prefect, then Head Boy, and work in the Ministry of Magic when I leave the school."

Antonio's eyes widened. "Wow. You're an ambitious little kid, aren't you? I'm surprised you didn't get into Slytherin with an attitude like that," he said incredulously. "Well, if you want to become a prefect, just do what I do. I got this badge for a reason." He taps the golden badge on his chest. It had a letter "P" gleaming on the front of it, accompanied by a Gryffindor lion. The beast looked noble, yet threatening, and almost seemed to move in the flickering candlelight.

Ludwig stared at it in awe. "You're a prefect? But how? You hang around my brother!"

Antonio grinned and belted out a laugh. "He just makes me look so much better behaved next to him! Don't tell him I said that though."

Alfred was craning his neck to see the Slytherin table. "Who else is over there? Who's the guy with the weird eyebrows?" He was focused on a blonde boy with eyes as green as the Slytherin banners and dark eyebrows that contrasted his hair color.

Antonio frowned. "Oh. That's Arthur Kirkland. He's the Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team, and he's been the downfall of Gryffindor in many games. I don't particularly like him for that reason. Francis hates him even more, though. They're both Seekers," he explained. "Gilbert is always bragging about the wins that Arthur brings them every year."

Alfred looked up at Antonio with interest. "How old do you have to be to try out for Quidditch?"

"Well, you can technically try out at any age, just first years are normally not chosen. Seniority rules in a situation like that," explained Antonio. "Though we are short two Chasers and one Beater this year, so the younger kids may be taken into account this year. When we're down this many people, that has to be done."

Alfred sat up straight, his eyes eager. "Sweet! I've been flying on a broom since I was little! I've got a Nimbus 2001. It's a little outdated, but it's still a nice broom."

Antonio smiled. "Ah. You've got a 90's broom, hm? Yeah, it seems like everything was better in the 90's, huh?" he sighed, leaning his elbow on the table and resting his chin in his hand. "What about you Ludwig? You gonna try out for Quidditch?"

Ludwig looked up and swallowed his mouthful of food. "I guess so. I never really thought about it," he mumbled. "I've ridden a broom a few times before. I'd need to practice."

"Well, there's a flying class here for the first years. You take it for a few weeks, and it's mandatory," said Antonio. "You can see how you fare there, and if you do well, you should try out for the team." His ever-present smile grew wider. "Then we can BOTH play against your brother! That'd be awesome, wouldn't it?"

Ludwig smiled a bit. "Yeah, that'd be a lot of fun," he nodded. He was surprised by how nice this guy was for someone who hung around Gilbert a lot.

The three boys carried on with petty conversation through the meal and dessert, until they were all full and satisfied. The two young boys were astounded by the fact that the plates cleared themselves, to Antonio's amusement. Within a few minutes, the prefects at each table stood up. Antonio got to his feet, looking down the table at a dark blonde girl with a green ribbon in her hair worn like a headband. The girl skipped over to them and smiled at Antonio. "I think we have to show them to the dormitory and stuff now. Let's go!" She gave him a kiss on the cheek before running off. "Alright, everyone follow me and Antonio! First years, pay extra special super close attention!

Alfred looked up at Antonio curiously. "Who's that?" he asked, tilting his head.

Antonio had a faint blush on his cheeks and a wide grin as he looked down at Alfred. "That's Laura, she's my girlfriend. Oh, and she's the other prefect. Now you have two reasons to be nice to her." He turned and ran after the dark blonde girl. "Wait up, mi amor!" he sang out to her.

Alfred looked over at Ludwig. "Well. That happened, didn't it?"

Ludwig shrugged. "It's not a big deal. Let's go follow them, shall we? I'd like to get some sleep."

* * *

The two boys climbed the staircase in Gryffindor tower to the room at the top of the stairs. Alfred grinned when they reached the top. "Heh. Imagine climbing those after a long day every day for the rest of your life here. That'll be a pain."

Ludwig sighed, "No kidding." He pushed the door open and entered the dormitory. Inside were five four-poster beds draped in red curtains as well as the trunks of five boys. One bed was occupied with the curtains shut tight. Ludwig whipped around to indicate Alfried to be quiet with a finger to his lips.

The two boys walked over to their beds, checking their trunks to make sure they had their own beds. Alfred glanced over at Ludwig. "Do you have an owl?" he whispered. Ludwig shook his head, and Alfred grinned "I've got a Great Horned Owl. He's probably in the Owlery right now. I can show you him when the mail comes tomorrow."

"My brother and I have to share an owl," Ludwig grumbled. "I guess that's better than nothing, though."

Alfred started pulling on his pajamas. "That sucks. Well, I'll wake you up for breakfast tomorrow, if you would like. I wake up early."

Ludwig yawned and pulled off his robes. "Ja, that'd be nice. _Danke_."

Alfred frowned. "Did you just call me a donkey?"

Ludwig shook his head. "No, no, _danke_. It means 'thank you' in German."

"Ohh. Well, cool," Alfred mumbled, climbing into bed and shutting the curtains to his four-poster. "'Night! Or...how would you say that in German?"

"_Gute nacht_," said Ludwig, climbing into bed himself. "_Ich werde Sie am Morgen zu sehen._ That means, 'I'll see you in the morning.'"

Alfred's eyes widened and he yanked the curtain back to look at Ludwig again. "Woah, slow down! Can you repeat it? I didn't catch the pronunciation."

Ludwig laid down and rolled over, not bothering to shut his curtains. "I'll tell you in the morning, okay?" he yawned, closing his eyes. "_Gute nacht_."

"Well uh..._gute nacht_ to you, too," Alfred sighed, flopping back in his bed. He took his glasses off and set them aside before closing his eyes and drifting off to a peaceful slumber.


	3. Chapter 3

Early morning sunlight streamed through the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall as Ludwig sat eating breakfast and looking his schedule over. He took a bite of his toast and ran his eyes over the list once more. Today, he had Potions with the Slytherins, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and History of Magic. He gazed curiously over the other days of the week and his eyes kept stopping on Wednesday, where along with his usual classes, he'd have to attend his flying lesson. He had been pondering what Antonio had told him yesterday all morning. He had only ridden a broom a few times, and instantly regretted it when Gilbert would give him bad directions. He had crashed more than his fair share of times. He still had a scar on his collarbone where he was nearly sliced open by crashing into a garden statue when he was eight. However, flying by himself without Gilbert directing him might be a different case. He stared at his schedule dazedly, daydreaming about Quidditch tryouts.

"Hey, there you are, Ludwig! Thought you could get away from me, eh?" growled an obnoxious voice from behind him. A hand clapped down on his shoulder, and he startled, looking behind him. Standing in back of him was Gilbert, his unnervingly red eyes glaring down at Ludwig with disapproval. "How could you get into Gryffindor? That's, like, the complete opposite of Slytherin!" exclaimed Gilbert. "Also, I had a prank all set to play on you when you got to the common room, and I couldn't let it go to waste, so I pulled it on that new shrimpy kid. I think he's named Lucy."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow at his brother and shrugged his pale hand off of his shoulder. "What did you do to that poor kid?" he grumbled.

"Just a simple Color-Changing Potion that's dumped from its cauldron when the door is opened. It turned the kid's hair hot pink," snickered Gilbert, a grin spreading over his face. "The tips of his hair are still pink, even after going to the hospital wing. The best part is that since I never had to show my face, he can't prove I did it!"

Ludwig glared at his brother with disapproval. "That kind of event is why I'm glad I'm here in Gryffindor," he said loftily, turning away from his brother.

Gilbert narrowed his eyes at Ludwig, his grin fading. "You didn't want to be in Slytherin? What the hell? I've been planning how to torment you all summer!"

"I know that! That's why I was dreading it," Ludwig hissed. "Now shoo, I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to go." He looked down at his map of Hogwarts, pretending to survey it.

Gilbert looked over the map, frowning. "You're going to dungeon four for Potions. Hey, you've got class with Lucy first. Tell him I said I am deeply sorry for not taking a picture."

"Oh, writing it in your diary wasn't enough?" retorted Ludwig, smirking to himself. He had found out a year ago that his brother had kept a diary of every single day of his life at Hogwarts since his first day, and he always was able to bring it up to irritate his older brother.

Gilbert blushed scarlet in embarrassment and anger. He lowered his voice and growled, "It's not a diary, it's a record of my activities. Mom is making me do it."

"So...it's a diary," countered Ludwig, his smirk growing to a smug grin. "And she made you do it your first year, but that's it. You're just still doing it because you enjoy telling an inanimate object how you feel. You're too lonely to vent to an actual person, and it's not hard to see why you're in that situation."

They were interrupted by Alfred sliding into a seat next to Ludwig. "Hey, I was going to wake you up this morning, but you had already left," he yawned, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He blinked up at Gilbert, his eyes widening at the menacing flesh-red gaze glaring down at him. "What the heck is with your eyes? And your skin? You're so pale! Are you part yeti or something?"

Gilbert's red eyes narrowed at Alfred. "I'm albino. It's not that weird," he muttered.

"It's an uncommon hereditary disease that you were unlucky enough to get," Ludwig piped in. "It's not normal in any way, shape, or form. It's even considered freakish by some."

Gilbert growled and slapped his brother upside the head. "Shut up, Ludwig! Since when do you speak, let alone be a smug little shit? What happened to you being quiet all the time?"

"Well, I'm worked up! You're really annoying, Gilbert!" snapped Ludwig, rubbing his head where he was hit and trying to pat his hair back down into its neat, slicked back appearance.

Gilbert scowled. "Hey, I have a right to be irritating! My own brother isn't in my house with me! I was looking forward to it-"

"-so you can tease me and prank me constantly? We've established that already," grumbled Ludwig, trying to stare down at his schedule and ignore Gilbert.

"Well yeah, but also so I can spend time with you and stuff! I've only had the summer holidays with you for the past four years, and even then you ignore me! I wanted to hang out with you and teach you stuff!" exclaimed Gilbert.

"Teach me how to get detention within the first ten minutes of school?" Ludwig inquired, looking rather unimpressed.

"No-okay maybe. That was a pretty impressive feat, you've gotta admit it," said Gilbert, trying and failing to suppress a smirk. "But also spells they don't teach in school, and even social skills. You've got a rather abrasive personality. I'm surprised you were even able to befriend this kid," he said, pointing at Alfred and looking the blonde boy over.

Alfred crossed his arms. "My name is Alfred Jones, for your information."

"Whatever, Albert," Gilbert muttered, looking back at Ludwig. "Come on, why did you have to get into Gryffindor?"

"Must I remind you that the Hat chooses the house, not the student?" said Ludwig haughtily. "I am at no fault here." He knew he was lying, but he just wanted Gilbert off his back already. He was done with this conversation.

Gilbert groaned and stood up straight. "How did you fit that stick up your ass? It's massive," he spat, stalking off towards the Ravenclaw table, where he met up with a boy with long wavy blonde hair.

Alfred looked shocked. "He called me Albert!" he exclaimed. "Also, he's got a serious potty-mouth." He snickered and grinned. "I've never heard that many curse words in one conversation."

Ludwig glared at Alfred. "Leave me alone. I'm not in the mood for chatting right now," he said irritably, looking down at his schedule again. It was getting tiring to use his schedule as a diversion since he had already read it over nearly twenty times, and his eyes kept on wanting to travel around the room.

Alfred frowned, looking a bit hurt behind his glasses. "Well...okay. I guess I'll go talk to some of the other first years and stuff…" He stood up with his plate and moved further down the table.

Ludwig groaned and laid his head in his arms on the table. Damn, Gilbert was a jerk. _Maybe if he would actually try to be nice to me, I'd be in Slytherin sitting with him right now and having a somewhat decent conversation with him,_ Ludwig thought spitefully. He lifted his head to cast a glance in his brother's direction. He spotted him laughing with the Ravenclaw boy, and he couldn't help but feel a pang in his chest. Sure, his brother was the biggest asshole to grace the Earth, but that was still his brother. For all he knew, Gilbert could be disguising real disappointment and hurt with that obnoxious personality of his. Ludwig rest his chin on his arms and glanced down at his map. He looked at Dungeon Four with interest. He'd be able to meet Luciano in that class. Maybe he could ask about Gilbert offhandedly, just to see if Luciano knew anything about what was really going through his brother's head. He took another bite of toast, but by now, it was unappetizing and tasted like damp cardboard to him in his depressed mindset. He spat it out onto his plate and scooted it aside, standing up and leaving the room without casting another glance at Alfred or Gilbert.

* * *

The halls to the dungeons were possibly the creepiest corridors that Ludwig had ever had to traverse. They were cold, musty, and echoed his footsteps behind him in such a way that he thought someone was following him. He kept throwing glances over his shoulder, despite knowing no one walked behind him. These halls gave him chills. Only when he reached the classroom door did he find some comforting relief from the empty eeriness of the passageways. Several kids were lined up at the door, chatting quietly. A couple of Slytherin girls at the end of the line were giggling softly and casting glances at the front of the line. Ludwig passed around the group of girls and craned his neck to see who they were looking at. He caught sight of a small figure with a dark head of hair and hunched shoulders. However, the tips of his hair were a very unusual shade of pink, and Ludwig instantly knew who this was. He sighed and moved forward, coming up behind the Luciano. He could see the small boy tensing up very steadily as he approached him, and his steps became more careful and wary. "Hey-" he started.

"Don't you _dare_ touch me!" hissed Luciano, whipping around with his teeth bared and gripping his wand threateningly. He raised it and pointed it at Ludwig's throat. "What? Are you going to make fun of my hair? Or my name? Go ahead. I dare you," he snarled.

Ludwig blinked and took a step back, putting his hands up defensively. He noticed the deafening silence of the hallway as the entire group of kids had stopped talking and stared at the two boys. It made him uneasy. He silently wanted to just hide his face and slide back into line, but he composed himself, straightened up, and looked Luciano right in the eye. "I'm not going to do any of that to you, Luciano," he said gingerly.

Luciano blinked and narrowed his eyes. "Oh yeah? Well you can't curse me! You don't know anything yet! You're still a first year! So...don't try anything!"

Ludwig glanced down at Luciano's wand, which was still pointed threateningly at his throat, then back up at him. "Using that logic, you can't curse me either," he pointed out.

Luciano looked taken aback, but he lowered his wand and placed it back into his shoulder bag. "Fine. What do you want?" he grumbled, looking away from Ludwig and stepping back into line.

Ludwig squeezed into line behind him. "You...just seemed like you needed some company," he mumbled.

Luciano grunted in reply. The two sat in silence for a few minutes. Ludwig looked his wand over idly, not knowing what else to say. _Fourteen inches, holly, phoenix feather,_ he repeated to himself. He was still confused by how wands worked, and how the wood was magical, but he liked how his wand sounded. _It's hard and inflexible, much like yourself, child,_ the wand vendor had told him.

"Thanks for calling me by my actual name," Luciano suddenly spoke, snapping Ludwig out of his wandering thoughts.

Ludwig looked up at Luciano. "What? Oh. Ja, of course. Have you yelled at your brother about that yet?"

Luciano's lip curled. "No. I'm trying to learn a good curse first. If all else fails, though, I have a knife." He glanced down at Ludwig's wand, noticing the slender wooden object now that he had turned around. "...Fourteen inches, holly...phoenix feather core?" he mumbled, narrowing his eyes.

Ludwig blinked in surprise. "Ja. You got that exactly right. How did you know that?" he asked curiously.

"My mother is a wandmaker from Italy. She's not well-known in Britain, but she's very well known back from her hometown and the towns around it," explained Luciano. He held up his own wand. "Nine and a half inches, ash, dragon-heartstring. This wand is practically my soulmate, my mother crafted it especially for me. Instead of a wand choosing me, my mom made a wand that was made specifically to be compatible with me, and me alone. It's a one of a kind bond that no one else has except my brother and my mother herself."

"Fascinating," said Ludwig with interest. "Do you plan to be a wandmaker when you get older?"

Luciano snorted in laughter. "No way. I picked up a few things, but that doesn't mean I'm going to use them. No, my brother is going to take up the family business. He's better at it, anyways," he muttered, somewhat disdainfully.

The sound of footsteps coming down the hall silenced the children. They watched as an elderly woman with streaks of white in her already very grey hair stalked over. "Good morning, children." She glanced over the line of kids, smiling with satisfaction. "Ah, wonderful. There is an even number of Gryffindors and Slytherins. In that case, I want you to sit at a desk with someone from your opposite House, no exceptions. You may head inside," she instructed, nodding to Luciano. The small boy opened the door and entered the room, with Ludwig and the rest of the line following.

Ludwig was about to move to the front of the room when a hand grabbed his arm and yanked him back. He nearly toppled over backwards. He whipped around to see Luciano holding his arm and looking up at him with his cold, pale brown eyes. "You're sitting with me. I refuse to sit with anyone else from your House," he said sternly. Ludwig was unsure how to reply, so he simply did as was told, walking over to the back corner desk with Luciano. He slid into his seat and placed his books on the table. He glanced around the classroom with interest, gazing at the shelves of potion ingredients, the other desks of students, and several mysterious stains on the stone walls, including one that Ludwig could have sworn was sizzling and slowly changing colors.

Luciano eyed Ludwig's books. "You've got new copies of everything. Is your family well-off?" he asked, examining the shiny covers with twinges of jealousy pricking at his expression.

"I guess so. We're not crazy rich, but we can afford to get me my own books instead of using my brother's old set," he said in response with a nonchalant shrug.

Luciano grimaced a bit. "I've got my brother's old books. It's awful, look." He pulled out his own set of books and set them on the desk. Ludwig leaned over to see what he meant, and was instantly greeted by the large, flowing signature reading "Flavio de Luca" on the front of the book. It ended with a flourish and was decorated elaborately.

"Why didn't he just sign the inside cover?" Ludwig frowned. "That's a waste of ink."

"That's not nearly the worst of it. Look." Luciano flipped open the book, flipping through the pages. There were doodles of magical creatures littering the pages of potion recipes and notes, some even covering the text so badly that it was no longer legible. "Somehow, with all this time on his hands to draw and not do work, he managed to scrape through the class with near perfect marks. I theorize that he enchanted a quill to draw for him while he worked," said Luciano matter-of-factly.

"That seems only logical," chuckled Ludwig. He looked over at Luciano, a thought occurring to him."The prefect Antonio said that your brother was extremely gay. Is that true?" he asked curiously.

Luciano groaned and covered his face with a hand. He nodded, looking rather disgusted by the topic. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was an actual fairy. He is the most fabulous male I have ever encountered, and it's sickening," he growled.

"At least he cares about you. My brother only likes having me around to tease," Ludwig muttered. However, remembering this morning, his irritable scowl faded into a sad frown, and he looked down.

"Well...yeah, I guess. I just wish he wouldn't baby me. I'm eleven years-old, not five. He needs to understand that, and he needs to stop calling me Lucy," said Luciano irritably.

A stern voice cut through their conversation. "Excuse me, boys in the back. Class has begun, now is the time to be quiet," the teacher called out from the front of the room. She had her arms crossed over her chest, a harsh frown on her wrinkled, papery face, and her foot tapped impatiently. The sound of tapping echoed around the stone room, bringing the entire class's attention to the teacher, and then to the back corner, where the teacher's gaze lay.

Ludwig blushed with shame and embarrassment for being called out and he mumbled, "I'm sorry, Professor…" Luciano didn't speak, but he did scowl at the teacher threateningly.

The teacher gave them one last flinty glare before looking back at the class. "In Potions class, you will learn remedies, useful modifiers, and even some potent poisons. However, for today, we'll just be learning about basic potion ingredients and their uses." She pulled out her wand and waved it over the chalkboard at the front of the room. A piece of chalk zipped itself up to the board and started scrawling out page numbers onto the black surface. "Read pages five through fifteen in your textbooks, and take notes as you see fit. We will review the material as a class in forty-five minutes. Begin now."

The entire class was suddenly filled with the sound of turning pages as everyone flipped to the allotted section and pulled out fresh rolls of parchment, bottles of ink, and quills. Ludwig followed suit, dipping his quill in his ink bottle and placing it to the parchment. He started hastily writing notes down as he read, rather underwhelmed so far. He hoped the rest of the day wouldn't drag on quite so much.


End file.
